Flintoff would 'love' Ashes captaincy

Wednesday 11 January 2006 00:09 BST

Andrew Flintoff insists he "would love to have a go" at captaining England in the Ashes series.

However, the Lancashire all-rounder insisted the matter was for the selectors to decide and signalled he had not yet been put in the picture about the leadership plans for this winter's tour. The choice is between Flintoff, who has missed much of the summer due to an ankle injury, and Andrew Strauss.

"We are all waiting to see the teams and the personnel and suchlike," said Flintoff on Sky Sports News. "If I get the opportunity to do it, it would be fantastic, but it's in the hands of the selectors now and we'll just wait and see. I'd love to have a go, to be honest, but it's out of our control."

Strauss led England to victory in the Test series against Pakistan, and then a 2-2 draw in the one-day international campaign after the tourists had established a 2-0 lead.

England's performances under Strauss have made a case for him being handed the role initially made vacant by Michael Vaughan's long-term injury problems.

"Straussy has done a great job in the last few weeks so we'll just have to wait and see," said 28-year-old Flintoff, who initially took on the captaincy on an interim basis from Vaughan.

There is a chance Flintoff could bowl at some stage during next month's ICC Champions Trophy.

"I've started running again in the last week. I've been running every day. I've had no ill effects from that," he said.

"Everything I've asked it to do, the ankle has responded well to. I've had no setbacks.

"The rehab programme was up to 12 weeks. I think that finishes on October 16 or 17 when I'll be fully fit. But before then I will be building up the bowling at probably half-pace and then trying to get quicker over the next few weeks."